


feel the fear and do it anyway

by georgerus63



Series: her majesty's finest [1]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Guns, James Bond AU, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Spies & Secret Agents, spy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:09:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27107737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgerus63/pseuds/georgerus63
Summary: When Lando Norris, son of the British ambassador goes missing, it is up to the MI6 to find him.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton/George Russell (mentioned), Max Verstappen/Daniel Ricciardo (mentioned)
Series: her majesty's finest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980568
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	feel the fear and do it anyway

**Author's Note:**

> It started with me and @simplyverstappen talking about a photo with combat clothes and now we're here😂 Thank you so much again for beta reading it mone!!! <3  
> Please remember that this is fiction and not real! I'm also bad at tagging and summaries, so sorry for that.  
> Have fun and enjoy it!

_ Berlin-Mitte, 23.10.2020, 9.12am _

Lando knows that growing up in a family full with politicians meant abstaining certain things. Going to fancy private schools, having a chauffeur and excessive parties with champagne and dress shirts could never bring him the freedom he needed, being forced to move every third or fourth year, having bodyguards following him on every step. 

His father was a British ambassador, just like all men in the Norris family had been, a few exceptions even made it into the parliament in the past.

At the moment his dad was working in Germany which had forced him to change universities too as his mom wasn't ready to let him stay back at London alone. Whenever he thought about it, Lando had to laugh quietly - he was twenty, turning twenty one soon, he wasn't a baby anymore. But it didn't matter to his mother who couldn't bear the thought of letting her son stay back and forced him to move with them again.

Sighing, he leant his head against the cool car window, his bodyguard Carlos spares him a short glance.

"Everything okay?"

The Brit nods. "Just tired. I had to finish an essay last night about political parallels during the Cold War and these days. Now I feel like I haven't slept in weeks"

"I thought it was due next Wednesday?"

"Yeah but there's a reception for the Turkish ambassador on Sunday and I won't have time to finish it then. Better super early than late." 

Lando has to admit getting along with Carlos was easy. He was just a few years older, never invading his private space too much and not overly worried. The Spaniard had started working for them in June and as it was now nearing November, Lando could say Carlos was his favourite, playing his friend when he had to go to his lectures or seminars for his International Relation studies to not create too much attention around him. They had a professional distance between them but the atmosphere with the young Spaniard was always friendly.

"Do we have time to grab a coffee or are we late already?" Lando asks as Carlos' eyes stay fixed on the road ahead, hands tightly on the steering wheel of the shiny Mercedes that definitely does not fit the student stereotype (and Lando prefers his McLaren back in England anyways).

"I'm afraid we're running a bit late Lando, there's no time for coffee." Something in his voice makes him feel uneasy all of sudden but Lando decides to drop it. He has learned early enough to not challenge his bodyguards, it wouldn't end well for him and he isn't looking forward to being locked up in the embassy the next few days. Besides, maybe Carlos has just noticed something unusual and is being careful now.

They reach the university on time, Carlos parking in the spot that was reserved for the car as being the son of an ambassador has its perks from time to time.

The lecture hall is crowded with other students when the two enter and manage to squeeze themselves into two empty seats just on time as the professor starts with the first slide of the presentation. 

-

Something was different today. No matter how well prepared Lando has been, it seems like his head is swimming. A slight headache starts to form behind his temples as his eyes burn and his whole body feels weak.

"I think I need some fresh air…" Lando mumbles halfway during the lecture, packing up his laptop already. The good feeling from this morning has disappeared as nausea starts to spread in his whole body.

"Sure." Carlos mumbles, quickly typing something on his phone.

"Carlos please, can you hurry…" Lando mumbles, a hand pressed in front of his mouth.

The bodyguard doesn't waste any more time and grabs his elbow, quietly but still with a good amount of force to pull him out of the hall, directly towards the toilets.

Lando feels his vision swimming, leans onto the Spaniard who is suspiciously quiet. Normally a ton of questions would be asked already, his older bodyguard Jeff would usually be on phone with his parents, informing them about a change in their routine. Through half lidded eyes, Lando sees how they pass the toilets, walking towards a small, dimly lit side corridor. 

"Carlos? What-?" 

A hard punch from behind on his head knocks him out, making him crumble on the floor.

-

_ London - Vauxhall Cross, MI6 Headquarters, 23.10.2020, 10.50am _

"I hope this is a real emergency otherwise I might cry."

"George we all had different plans today, it is actually my day off. And do you see me cry? No. And why is that? Because I'm not a pussy." Max slumps down heavily in his seat, making Charles' nostrils flare and his eyebrows rise up. God, he prays that he doesn't have to work with him again, he is still recovering from a mission in Austria last year.

"Shut up both of you, they wouldn't have called us if it wasn't important." Alex chimes in, the good and gentle soul he is, trying to calm down everyone. Charles is counting the days down until the Thai will end up in their hospital wing beaten up, as he was trying to prevent a fight.

The room they are waiting in is one of the typical meeting rooms in the MI6 headquarters, sterile white walls with a chrome desk and stools that break your back just by looking at them. 

Charles turns his phone in his hand, he has absolutely no clue why he is here and what the emergency could be. There had been no explosions anywhere in London and so far nobody has threatened the Queen or Premiere today, which is a miracle honestly. 

One minute he had been down at Q's quarters, testing out a new gun until his supervisor Sebastian Vettel himself, a retired double O legend and their team senior, sent him to the meeting.

His colleagues are looking just as clueless as him but Charles enjoys watching them as they wait. Max is grumpily typing away on his phone, probably telling his boyfriend Daniel why he isn't home on their day off (Charles still envied the Dutch for getting himself not only an incredibly hot boyfriend but the one and only Daniel Ricciardo, infamous 003. Hot and talented, how much luck that bastard has…). George and Alex quietly talk over some debrief from their last mission, as far as he can understand them, they have been sent to Macau to collect some information about a businessman with mafia connections. 

Charles himself tries to find a comfortable sitting position, as Max had 'accidentally' rammed him into a wall at their last sparring session, making his ribs ache uncomfortable. A pained scoff came over his lips but before anyone had time to react, the door opens and Sebastian stepped into the room, followed by M. Charles' ever observing eyes don't miss the longing glances George sends towards the older, dark skinned man who does indeed look more than stunning in his tight, form-fitting black suit.

Seb clears his throat and puts down a slim looking file, tension thick in the room. A slim file is never a good sign, not in an emergency. It means no information, no clues and Charles can practically see the overtime and sleepless next days already.

"Roughly an hour ago, the son of the British ambassador in Germany has disappeared without a trace but the camera images we got make it look like a planned kidnapping. Lando Norris, 20 years old," Sebastian takes a picture out of the file and throws it in the middle of the table. It shows the missing man, more like a boy who brightly smiles at the camera, his brown locks messy from the wind. "He studies International Relations at the University of Westminster but is currently enrolled at the Humboldt University as he went to Berlin with his parents. This morning around 8.45 am he left with his bodyguard Carlos Sainz Jr according to his mother, Mrs Norris."

The German continues and pulls out a map, Charles and the others looking at it with big interest. It shows Berlin: the University, the embassy and the home of Norris' are marked red, a blue line shows the route the car had taken, the same as usual.

"According to the data from the car and security footage, they both arrived around 9.20am, the usual time for his Friday lectures and both went into the building and lecture hall together."

More photos, this time showing the dark haired bodyguard, his personal file and the layout of the building. The way is marked red again and this time there are green circles for cameras.

"So far we know what happened but then it gets tricky. According to witnesses, both left as Lando wasn't feeling well, we could follow them up to here," he points at a small corridor, "and that's it. Disappeared without a trace. When the senior bodyguard wasn't informed at the usual time where Lando was, he contacted the security and this is how we got the footage." Sebastian pulls out a tablet and shows them a video, the quality is bad but Charles can clearly see Lando struggling while walking when Carlos drags him away and hits him on the back of his head.

There is a short silence, the young agents quietly sorting their thoughts. Alex takes a closer look at the maps now, George and Max read Carlos' file. Charles takes Lando's photo. The young Brit is cute but the Monegasque is quick with pushing the thoughts at the back of his head, there is no time for anything except the rescue mission.

"So Sainz is our number one suspect?"

"Actually yes." M speaks up, having stood in the back quietly, now stepping up next to Seb.

"We don't have a lot of clues at the moment, for sure but Carlos Sainz Jr. can not only be seen clearly in the footage but we linked him back to Fernando Alonso and his cartel, I wouldn't be surprised if this is another one of his sick plans."

"Okay two things," Max speaks up, pushing Carlos file away, "If he links to Alonso, how is it possible that he was hired as bodyguard for an ambassador and his family? Somebody must have smuggled him in, right?"

"Possible. The second question?" M asks, his voice calm as ever but Charles can see he is thinking about Max' theory. 

"Wasn't Alonso supposed to be dead? Abu Dhabi 2018? I thought one of our snipers got him?"

"Well…" Sebastian starts, twisting the sleeves of his white shirt and Charles has a bad feeling about this. "It looks like he is not dead, Agent 22 who was part of his assassination found traces of him two months ago and we believe that he is… very much alive." The last part is followed by a long sigh from the blonde German who massages his temples.

"Not one of our best moments." M admits before straightening his shoulders, back to business it is.

"Agent 23 and 63 you will help Q trace back every single cartel member of Alonso that has visited Germany the past months until Sebastian is back with Agent 33 and 16, both of you will look for clues in Berlin. We believe they might have not left the city yet. R will give you back up." His voice is hard now, no protests allowed.

"Q and R?" Alex whispers, his eyes comically wide and even Charles has to take in a long breath. Q and R hate each other, it's a wonder their building hasn't been burned down by their fights yet. Apparently it all started in Hungary 2017 with Q not doing what was being agreed and when being confronted, responding with suck my balls - honestly Charles found the story hilarious until he witnessed one of their fights. Well, Max is scary when angry but those two? Hide the expensive equipment and then quickly yourself.

M rolls his eyes as Sebastian starts pushing everything back into the file. "George please hand this to Q, he will scan it so everyone has the information available and can add more."

"We definitely have to look into Carlos and Alonso's connection but most importantly we need to try to find a motive. What could they want, does Lando might know about certain plans, do they just want money? Check every little detail, I will contact the German Intelligence service." M nods at them, the agents saluting in understanding.

"Well, good luck with Rosberg then…" Charles can hear Seb adding quietly as they leave the conference room.

-

_ Berlin Tempelhof, 1.02pm _

Being gifted with foresight and brains, Charles used the short plane ride in their small jet for a proper power nap. He knows such missions, knows how messy they can and will get and that he won't get sleep for at least 72 hours. Max seems to have the same thought because when they're landing, the Dutch is still sleeping quietly next to him, only Sebastian has stayed awake to research more.

"We will start with the family and their employees, maybe we find a first trace there."

"Best case would be the connection to Alonso." Charles nods and gets up, stretching his tired muscles. He has changed into a black formal but simple suit, identical to Sebastian and Max. His com is well hidden in his ear, a glock is pressed tightly to his ribcage, well concealed by the suit jacket and his overcoat, to protect him from the cold weather outside the plane. In the meantime Max has woken up too and checks his gun while eyeing the map in front of them, showing the route the missing dou had taken in the morning.

"Any news from M?" He asks, putting his gun in his holster, concealing it with his jacket too.

"Rosberg shut down the starting permit for every private jet in Germany and has around one hundred agents patrolling the airports and train stations in Berlin. The police are looking for Carlos and a young, brown haired man who is a possible kidnapping victim. M couldn't bring him to save Lando's identity any further or otherwise the police wouldn't have cooperated."

"And any success?" Charles is interested now, they might have a good chance like that. Carlos could be trapped in Germany at least, making it easier for them to catch him and save Lando. 

"So far they are very sure he hasn't left the country but we're still looking everywhere for them. It's also way too early for a proper statement."

-

_ Berlin Grunewald, 1.27pm _

The car ride to the Norris house from the airport is surprisingly short. The house, or rather villa, is located in one of the more wealthy areas, a huge, impressive building with a large garden. The house itself looks old-fashioned but has three stories, cute looking balconies, small towers and is framed by a huge fence. When their car pulls into the driveway, a man in a suit is already waiting for them and Charles recognises him from the personal list Alex has sent him, it's the senior bodyguard Andreas Seidel. He is a still rather young looking blonde guy with glasses but according to his file, this man has been in the field multiple times and has a shitton of honors.

"MI6?" He just asks when they get out of the car and Sebastian nods, Max and himself too busy to scan their surroundings, taking in every bush, flower and stone, searching for anything usable.

"Please follow me, I'll show you to Lando and Carlos' rooms." 

The house is even bigger from the inside but cosily decorated. So far he has seen enough pictures of Lando, his two younger sisters and older brother, the hallway is framed by hundreds of pictures of them and by just looking at it, Charles first guess is that Lando has seen as many countries as him. Maybe not in the same aspect like he did but for sure, Lando has come around in his twenty years.

They decide to split up, Max goes to Carlos' room, Seb with Andi to take a closer look at the rest of the employees, leaving him with Lando's room. 

The boy has chosen a room well hidden on the other side of the house that is connected with one of the towers, a ladder leading up into a small extra room. The walls are painted bright orange and blue and the room is very tidy. The usual gaming equipment on a wide desk next to a staple of books about politics during the Cold War. Charles quickly skips through them, it is still rather common to hide notes and hints in books but those in front of him are only filled with memos summing up paragraphs. The bed is made, the wardrobe is tidy, the agent is certain there is nothing he can find here. When he searches through the bookshelf in the tower there are just crime novels and more books about politics. Even on his computer is nothing usable, just university work and the usual stuff, social media, mails… but again, nothing that could give a clue where the ambassador's son went.

"16, come in please." Charles hears Max voice through the com and immediately responds.

"I'm listening."

"Ambassador Norris got a call from Sainz just now, Rosberg recorded it. Re-coordination at the British embassy in thirty minutes, we meet at the foyer."

"Did you find anything?"

"Negative, you?"

"Nothing."

-

_ Berlin Government District, 2.30pm _

M looks pissed when they enter the British embassy and Charles doesn't have to guess long why as Nico Rosberg stands next to him, hands wildly flying through the air as he's saying something.

"What's the plan now?" Sebastian asks after politely shaking hands with the German Intelligence head.

"Our best men are trying to locate the phone-"

"My Quartermaster and his assistant are here too, they can help." M interferes and Rosberg pulls a face.

"My men can do it too!"

"Yeah but this way we might be faster!"

"Uh what was the call about?" Max steps in now, sensing just like Charles that this discussion won't end anytime soon.

M turns around and rubs his temples. "The usual I'd say. He wants access to an untraceable plane otherwise Lando will get hurt."

"So it was the bodyguard on the phone then?" 

"Yes, Mr Norris confirmed it, he recognised the voice and the accent." Rosberg adds before wandering off to one of the agents that is sitting in front of a computer, fingers flying over the keys.

"If we have a location, 16 and 33 will check it out, 23 and 63 will be the back-up in case he tries to escape." M orders, ignoring the glares Rosberg sends him.

"This is Germany, so this is my mission!"

"He's a British citizen, son of a British ambassador, this is the case of the MI6." M answers, eyes cold and voice firm, even Rosberg notices there's no room for more arguing here.

Charles rolls his eyes and sees Max doing the same, the Dutch turning around to the other two team members. "Mission briefing in five?"

-

They find a quiet room with a great view over the Spree and Charles has finally time to sit down, drink some water and order his thoughts. George next to him is starting to get changed, if they're going to hunt down Sainz now there will be no use for expensive suits. Charles doesn't like combat clothing as much as silky shirts but it comes in handy when somebody tries to shoot you. 

With a heavy sigh he gets up and grabs his own pile of clothes as George is already tying up his boots.

"Do you think Sainz is still close?"

"It's hard to tell. If he was clever, he would be already in Spain, hiding with Alonso. Something must have gone wrong if he's still here." 

"He hasn't acted clever since he got hired." Max decides to join. "Or otherwise he wouldn't have used his real name."

"Maybe. Or do you think Lando fought back?" George asks again but Charles shrugs, he hates to admit it to himself but he has no clue. It could be that the young Brit fought his attacker but maybe Sainz is really not as experienced as they think of him.

"We will know more if we have a location-" Alex can't finish the sentence when Sebastian's shrill voice suddenly reaches their coms.

"He's here, Sainz is in front of the building, evacuate now, I repeat, evacuate immediately!"

Charles feels blood rush in his ears, the adrenaline kicking in. With practiced ease he pulls on his bullet proof vest, tightens his guns around his upper thighs and follows his team outside the room - just to be thrown back into it by a seemingly invisible force.

His head hits the concrete and hot pain rushes through his back and his ribs as his body collides with the wall. For a short moment he feels like he is floating, his whole body in pain, he smells smoke, he hears screams but he cannot move, his vision is blurry with black spots.

Then Max' head appears in his vision, there's blood on his temples and he's pressing a tissue on his nose.

"Charles? Can you hear me?"

Charles groans, he isn't sure if he can talk but despite the pain he tries to push himself into a sitting position. So far, nothing appears to be broken but his body will be sore for days.

"What happened?" He asks but in reality he already knows. Sainz, if he's been in front of the building, it must have been him that set off the bomb. 

"Sainz that fucker…" Max confirms, swiping some blood from his face "The idiot blasted the building up!"

"But that's clever." Alex groans, he lays next to Charles, there's blood on his right ear and neck but otherwise he seems fine and slowly sits up. "He just blasted an embassy up, no cop will have time now to look out for him elsewhere which gives him enough time to disappear."

"Fuck… so we're on our own?" Charles sums up and gets a round of nods as confirmation.

"If you're done with pitying yourself move your asses down here." Q's voice sounds scratchy over the coms and the three agents get up.

"Where's George?" Alex asks, looking around the room for the tall Brit.

"Already down here, looking after M." Q replies and Charles eyebrows raise. Since when-?

"If he's cosy with M again, I'll snap his neck." Max mutters under his breath and Charles feels relief as he isn't the only one who noticed it.

-

The foyer is a mess, Charles can easily spot Sebastian and Rosberg, both unharmed, their suits full with dust. M is also fine but it doesn't seem to stop George from worriedly ripping the suit jacket off and eyeing the upper body more closely. Sneaky bastard, Charles thinks before letting his gaze wander. Except for a few people, the majority is unharmed. Their equipment definitely took a hit, the power is off but nobody has died down here.

"Where did the explosion go off?" Alex asks while helping R checking a few tablets as Max is busy with piecing George with his eyes. 

"In the ambassador's office." Rosberg steps next to them, his face dark. "Mr. Norris is already being treated, he was down the corridor when it happened but his secretary is dead."

That's at least some good news but it still doesn't make sense to him. For sure, blasting up the embassy buys Carlos time but nearly killing the ambassador is an attempted political assassination. Something doesn't add up for him and when he sees Alex frown he knows that the Thai has the same thoughts.

"Is Sainz signal still traceable?" M has joined their small circle, it seems like George has finally decided he is well enough to walk again but the Brit is standing like a shadow behind the head of the MI6.

"It is." Q is typing frantically on his laptop now, which looks slightly damaged too. "It's very weak but I managed to trace him in Friedrichshain. He's moving fast, definitely driving a car and he's going to leave the city."

Within seconds Charles exchanges a look with Seb as his senses kick in again, he checks his earpiece and makes his way out of the building. There are multiple shiny Mercedes parked around, in the distance he can hear sirens and he knows he has to act fast before they're blocking the streets. 

Max seems to have had the same thought and pulls him towards a car, Charles has no time to be stunned from where his colleague got the keys.

"I'll drive." The Dutch states and Charles won't complain, there is no time for discussions, not when Sainz is still close and can be caught easily.

Max doesn't waste time, following the street instructions Q gives him.

"He's roughly 10 kilometres ahead of us on the city speedway, turn left at the next crossing and you're on the speedway too."

"Any clue what car we are looking for?" Charles asks while pulling the gun from his holster. If necessary, Sainz can only be stopped with bullets.

"R is working at getting into the security footage-" Charles is pressed hard into his seat when Max suddenly turns left quite harshly, "- but we think a Mercedes too, similar to yours."

"Mate this is Germany!" Max says, overtaking two slow Renault.

"And you know how Sainz looks, now show that you're worth the money and find him!" Q snaps back and Charles can't stop himself from giggling. Yes this is serious and Charles should definitely stay professional but he can't help it when he feels satisfaction from Max grim face.

"5 kilometres, either he's extremely slow or you're extremely fast." R comments now.

"Wir fahren verdammte 250, was erwartest du?!" Max screeches and damn, Charles is enjoying this more than he should. R is laughing loudly now while Q scolds him to not block their communication with such nonsense.

"Is he still on the speedway?" 

"Positive, 16, it doesn't look like he's changing that anytime soon."

"Then he is really stupid." Seb has joined their channel now while Max continues to overtake some cars, swearing loudly at them. "It's Friday, the speedway will be clogged with cars at this time. Prepare for possible confrontation and that you have to run over a certain distance." The German instructs.

"Understood." 

"He's on the A1, going east to leave the city," Q informs them. 

"Then he is really stupid!" Sebastian complains and R mumbles in agreement. "That's like the most used road for rush hour, he will probably stand still in some minutes!"

"Confirmation, Sainz is not moving anymore, the car is standing!" Charles feels adrenaline rush through him again at Q's confirmation. His gun is lying comfortably in his hand as Max is still going through the cars with a brutal speed. They need to be as close as possible to Sainz if they want to catch him, too many cars blocking the road will only make it harder for them. 

"2 kilometres left, you should be very close to him once you will be stuck too." Q confirms his thoughts. Max somehow manages to floor the pedal even more and Charles checks his gun for munitions, tightens his vest, makes sure his boots are tied as tight as possible. If they have to run, untied laces won't help him. Suddenly the car stops abruptly and Charles' head bangs against the dashboard. Max is smiling like an angel at him and it takes every single bit of self control in his body to not strangle his partner.

"Q, we've reached the standing cars, we have to walk from here. Is Carlos' car moving?"

"Negative 33, but radio stations report two moving figures maybe 800 metres away from you, they are moving slowly, one person probably injured." 

From there on, things happen fast. Max and he pull the collars of their black undershirts up, covering half of their faces to keep their identities hidden, guns loaded in their hands as they exit the car and run towards the abandoned car, that thanks to Q is found quickly. It is a black Mercedes that Sainz had stolen, identical to theirs and Max discovers blood on the back seats.

"Q, high possibility the target has Norris and he is injured, there is blood. I repeat, high possibility target Sainz has Lando Norris and he is injured."

"Understood, try to find them as quickly as possible, they must be directly in front of you." 

Charles starts sprinting again, knowing Max is closely behind him. His back aches, his ribs hurt with every breath he takes, his head is pounding. He has no clue where all this energy is coming from but he manages to keep his tempo. In the distance his eyes can suddenly make out two moving figures, a taller one dragging a second person behind. There is no doubt who those two are and he speeds up, Max closely behind.

When Sainz hears their boots hammering down on the asphalt he turns around, a tight grip on the ambassador's son's throat. Lando is choking for air as he looks miserable, his face is incredibly pale and his wrists are bloody.

"Stop! One more step!" Carlos raises a knife to Landos ribcage, the young brit immediately stilling, his eyes turning wide.

"Q, confirm we've found them, target and Norris. Take our position." Max speaks calmly, his and Max weapon trained on Sainz's head. Without the knife he would be already dead, laying in his own blood.

Slowly, Charles takes a step forward. He knows Rosberg must have already sent a helicopter and a sniper and backup, if not Rosberg then M, but he still wants to test out the waters.

"Let Norris go." His voice is firm as he locks eyes with the Spaniard.

"No, he will come with me!" 

"Why? What is your plan? Money? Do you work for Alonso?"

"Hah!" Carlos lets out a loud ugly laugh and Charles can see Lando shaking as the knife is pressed harder in his upper body.

"I don't work for Alonso anymore, kidnapping Lando and causing chaos was just my part of the job, I don't know much more."

Charles takes another step, his gun steady on the point between Carlos' eyes. "Where do you want to take him?"

"Somewhere private, I'm sure we could have a nice life together on an island. What do you think?" The last part is directed at Lando who watches quietly as the knife is raised up in front of his throat and is pressed down hard on the soft skin.

A small scream escapes the Brit as Carlos starts to press down some more. He's so focused on Lando, he seems to forget there are two MI6 agents in front of. Max easily attacks him with a hard punch on his wrist, making him drop the knife immediately. Lando gets pulled away by Charles within seconds and pushed behind him. Except for the cut on his throat he looks unharmed and Charles makes sure to guard him as Max punches out the living daylights of the Spaniard.

The whole thing must look pretty weird from the outside but once Max is finished and Carlos can't open his eyes anymore, Charles lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. In the same moment he realises Lando clings to his arms, his breath ragged and his neck and t-shirt colored red by his own blood.

"Shit-"

"Take him to the hospital, I'll deal with Carlos." Max calmly responds and Charles scoops up Lando as the young Brit crumbles next to him onto the hard asphalt. In the distance he can hear sirens again and a helicopter that is flying above them Charles realises that the people in the cars around them stare - surely two agents saving someone must be an odd sight on a regular Friday afternoon, especially in the middle of the speedway.

Despite the teen in his arms Charles smiles under his mask and waves at a woman that stares rudely at him. She quickly turns her head away, making the Monegasque smirk even more before Charles focuses on the helicopter that is lowering a rescue cage for Lando.

Max nods at him and Charles secures the unconsciousness body properly before hopping into the cage too. When Max says he can deal with Carlos, Charles fully trusts him.

-

_ Charité, Berlin-Mitte, 7.34pm _

It's already dark when Max finally joins him in the hospital, the ambassador and his son are being treated in a smaller, more private wing and Charles, despite being released from his duty by two police guards, decides to stay until Lando wakes up. 

They needed to stitch up his throat and wrists and Charles had a hard time to get Lando into the operation theatre as he had clung on the agent.

"Here for you." Charles is mildly surprised when Max hands him a coffee, taking a look at the logo. It's not even the cheap hospital coffee but a rather expensive one.

"Thank you."

"I think we deserve it. Despite that, you look like shit." There he is, the old Max Charles knows and hates. He rolls his eyes but takes a long sip from the coffee and has to stop himself from moaning. God, he didn't know how much he had needed it.

On the other side, Max is partly right, he is still in his combat clothing, dust from the explosion, blood and sweat clinging onto him.

"You're right I should get changed." He sighs and gets up in search of a toilet.

"Wait some minutes, Alex brings you some spare clothes."

Charles hates to admit how right Max is again as Alex appears some minutes later, a bag with a fresh suit in his hands and some sandwiches Seb has bought for them. 

It doesn't take long for Charles to get changed, washing his hair and getting rid of the blood in his face. The suit feels nice and gives him an odd sense of security, his gun always pressed to his ribcage. If anything he looks like the model MI6 agent. Well, until five minutes later when he and his team members eat the sandwiches which must look weird to any outsider. Three men, plasters and scars in their faces, gobbling down food in expensive designer suits. Charles couldn't care less, his thoughts are hopping from a nap in the private jet to his bed in his fancy apartment in London already. Occasionally, the face of a certain young Brit appears…

"Uh excuse me?" A nurse appears in front of them, gripping the board in her hands tightly. "Mr Norris is awake and requests the presence of the one who brought him here."

Charles is up on his feet in seconds, making the nurse flinch before she composes herself and leads Charles towards one of the guarded rooms. The policemen let him pass and he finds himself in a dimly lit but cosy hospital room, the walls painted in light yellow, with a big window, an uncomfortable looking couch and the typical hospital bed.

Lando's throat is bandaged up just like his wrists and he's hooked to an IV but still Charles can easily make out the red blush on his cheeks. Cute.

"How are you feeling?" He decides to go first as Lando seems to have forgotten what he wanted.

"Good? My throat hurts a lot but otherwise it's okay." He shyly admits and plays with the white plastic band on his wrist.

"Carlos got arrested and is being transported to the MI6 headquarters." Normally Charles would never talk about classified information but he feels like he owes Lando that information. "I don't know how much they've told you already…"

"Just that my dad is fine." Lando explains and sends Charles a small smile who in return steps closer to the bed. "And that Carlos drugged me up this morning to make my abduction easier."

"Okay, well there is not much more to say. From here, the police and German Intelligence service will take over." 

The smile drops from Lando's lips. "Oh…" For a moment it's silent in the small room, Charles doesn't know what to say. It's rare, he can talk for hours if he wants to but right here, in front of Lando his brain doesn't cooperate.

"Will we see each other again-?" The Brit then asks, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Charles."

"Will we see each other again Charles?" Lando repeats, the blush back on his cheeks.

"I sure hope so." 

When Charles later exits the room, nobody needs to know that Landos phone number is in his pocket and that Lando has his scribbled on a slip of paper. Because how could Charles ever say no to those lovely blue orbs?

-

_ London - Vauxhall Cross, MI6 Headquarters, 03.11.2020, 8.23am _

"The kidnapping and the explosion were just distractions to a failed robbery," M sums up, while closing the power point he had used for showing the results.

"So no Alonso at all?" Alex asks and their leader nods.

"Yeah we went into a completely wrong direction there. Only a badly organised terrorist group that wanted to steal documents on the Brexit negotiations. Rosberg is hunting them down now."

"But we still got Alonso right?" George interrupts them.

"Yes, Agent 22 got him, he's safely locked away downstairs in our cells, there we can make sure he isn't going to escape." M explains, a happy glint in his eyes as he talks to the young agent.

As nothing interesting is being said, Charles gets out his phone to see he got a new message, from his boyfriend, complaining that he left so early in the morning without saying goodbye to him. He smirks while he types a quick reply until M's voice brings him back.

"Charles and Max, due to your success on your last missions I want to promote both of you into the Double O programme. We need new agents and both of you showed often enough that you're more than capable to manage your own jobs."

Charles is stunned and he feels his ears turning red, his phone immediately forgotten. This is everything he ever dreamed off, this is why he joined the Academy so many years ago. Max next to him is beaming with pride as M gets out two small boxes containing the emblem Double O's are allowed to put on their suits.

"Congratulations Agent 33, from now on 001 and congratulations Agent 16, from now on 007."

Charles is still speechless, accepting the box from M with a shy smile on his face. 007, this sounds good.

"Isn't 007 normally reserved for M's favourite?" Max suddenly asks and George immediately turns red under the Dutch's gaze as M keeps it as cool as ever. Sebastian has to turn away to snort loudly while Alex gets out his phone for blackmail photos of George.

"Uhm- we, uh-," The Brit stutters out before turning helplessly to their leader.

"Can't you say anything Lewis?" 

Now it's M's turn to get comically wide eyes as George realises his mistake - M's identity normally remains Britain's biggest secret.

"We're discussing this later babe." M, Lewis dismisses the topic as the rest of the team breaks into a fit of giggles.

"Come on, we all saw that a power point of this quality can only be created by a George!" Alex yells breathlessly over the chaos.

-

_ London, 24.12.2020, 5.45pm _

It's the first time Lando doesn't celebrate Christmas with his family and so far it looks like he is going to be completely alone, his boyfriend off to god knows where after an emergency briefing in the middle of the night.

Sighing, he drags himself up from the couch in the spacious apartment and makes his way over to the big glass windows, looking down on the Thames. He is grateful that his parents allowed him to continue his studies in London, he feels better here and a lot more free. The rain although is ruining his mood tonight, the Christmas tree is the only thing that lights up the living room at the moment.

God, he really is going to strangle his boyfriend if he has to spend the next three days alone when he suddenly hears a key in the lock of the door. Lando doesn't move, he knows exactly who it is and a small smile plays on his lips as he hears the steps in their corridor coming closer until a pair of arms wraps around his torso.

"Bon soir, chéri."

"Good evening, 007."

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: georgerus63


End file.
